Atlanta will expend Kris Medlen (10-1, 1.57 ERA) in a winner-take-all game against St. Louis ? a proper price for not winning the division.

Written by

Tim Sullivan

The wild-card games are a gimmick. They are another desperate device to keep baseball relevant in the realm of King Football. The purpose is as plain as the raised red stitches on a new ball, and the effect is to erode the significance of the regular season in transparent pursuit of television ratings.

And yet, on balance, this way is better.

Forty-four years after baseball's postseason last included only two contestants, 10 teams were still standing when the 162-game season ended Wednesday night. By adding a second wild-card team in both the American and National leagues, baseball's ...